Share This Story!

Don’t let underage drinking spoil your new year

With Christmas behind us it is time to welcome a new year and embrace new possibilities. For many this means joining family and friends to ring in the midnight-new year with a toast and well wishes for future prosperity.

Don’t let underage drinking spoil your new year

With Christmas behind us it is time to welcome a new year and embrace new possibilities. For many this means joining family and friends to ring in the midnight-new year with a toast and well wishes for future prosperity. Whether you attend a dance hall, bar, or house party to celebrate it is important that safety is first.

Increased police patrols, DWI checkpoints, designated driver campaigns and taxi shares help make our communities safer and decrease fatalities and other not-so-prosperous activities. However, underage drinking is one danger that is often overlooked and sometimes dismissed during the holiday season.

Parties where underage drinking occurs are dangerous because they increase the risk of binge drinking, alcohol poisoning, fighting, and sexual assault among many other risky activities. Yet, many parents in our community believe that is OK to give a minor alcohol if they are responsible, at special events, or if they get good grades (2015 New Mexico Community Survey). Alcohol is a preferred substance among local youth, of 28 percent who reported that they currently drink, 49 percent stated they drank at their home or someone else’s home (2015 Youth Risk & Resiliency).

In New Mexico serving alcohol to a minor in a home or any other setting is considered a felony class offense. Yet, parents throughout Doña Ana County are reporting incidences of their minors being served alcohol at friends, relatives, and neighbors’ homes without their permission.

“My 15-year-old son went to a family members house,” shared one Doña Ana County resident who felt her parental rights were stripped from her when a trusted family member decided to serve her son alcohol, “I was so upset when they told me they didn’t see anything wrong with it, we’re all family.” In this case, the Sheriff’s office was called but because no one admitted to giving the teen alcohol, nothing could be done.

To give police an additional tool to curb underage drinking and deter parents and others from giving youth alcohol, communities like Luna County, El Paso County, and San Antonio have adopted Social Host Ordinances (SHO). Others like Anthony, NM and Otero County have introduced SHO’s to their government boards. SHO’s hold property owners, renters, or parents responsible, but do not replace existing criminal laws. “I think homeowners should be held responsible,” expressed the resident.

Because the consequences of underage drinking have lifelong effects on a young person’s future, it is the responsibility of every resident to support families, each other, and law enforcement to protect youth from these dangers. So, while you are celebrating a new year with your loved ones, refuse to give alcohol to anyone under 21 and tell others at your celebrations to do the same.

If your child is celebrating at someone else’s home, get to know the parents and be clear about your drinking policies. As a responsible parent, guardian, or family member make sure to protect your young loved ones and refuse to let anyone take your parental rights away or put your child in a situation where their future could be jeopardized. Perhaps the new year will bring a SHO to Las Cruces or Doña Ana County and offer parents additional support to ensure a bright, drug and alcohol free future for all the youth in our county.

The Coalition members are volunteers who have a sincere desire to positively impact the lives of all youth living in the community and they eagerly share resources to move the mission of the Coalition forward. If you are interested in joining the UP! Coalition or serving as an individual volunteer please contact Marisol Diaz, UP! Coalition Program Manager, at 575-534-0101 xt 2119 or via email at mdiaz@swchi.org